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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It has been an interesting few months for our family. We are going through quite a few changes that have been challenging and humbling to say the least. We found out on a Thursday in August that we are expecting our 5th child and the next day (Friday) my husband lost his job.

Our family is in the midst of a huge transition. Switching gears from having 4 children to 4 and counting is huge in itself. But now we are also transitioning to having a well paying job (which my hubby did not enjoy), to no job, to no income, and now in the beginning stages of starting a new business. That's a lot to throw on an emotionally unstable pregnant woman!!!!

I will right about the interesting chapter to the story that The Lord has been writing for us soon.

Until then, I have a few pretty pictures to share. Decorating and being creative is an outlet for me. We changed things up a bit in our house in the early summer(when we had income). Painted some furniture, moved a few others, and bought a few new pieces.

I wanted a change in my eat in kitchen area. I had a beautiful painting on the wall but I was needing a change as well as a place to house some of my pretty things.
Here's the before:

My hubby went to work building a couple shelves to take the place of the painting. I gave them a coat of paint, pretty brackets, and went to town piling all my collectibles on top.

We wanted a new sofa to replace our tired out old one and I wanted to do away with all the green in the house. Before:

We purchased the chaise sofa from Ikea back in the early summer: After

A few other shots of the room:

If you are wondering what the chalkboard says above the sofa:
"Joined in Love Kept by God
Forever Together"
Our hutch used to be green. You can see it in the previous before picture above. I was trying to get rid of the bright colors and go more neutral throughout our house. I left the inside of the doors green which looks great when the doors are opened (above).

We also purchased a new chair from Ikea to put in place of the old black dresser. Before:

After:

Hopefully I will have enough energy to share some of the free decorating I have done around the house now that our income has stopped. It is amazing what you can do with nothing!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ok Ang, open your box and take out the folder. Take a look at the first drawing I gave you. This is the layout for the wall above your sewing counter. Most of the wall space is used for storing items that you need often.

FIRST: Peg Board

I know we talked about using your big frame as a chalkboard, but, if you haven't already, I thought adding a peg board inside the frame would be a good way to store the things you need on hand while sewing. This peg board is used for scrap booking, but you get the idea.

This is the peg board I made for my sewing room. I tried to use the recylcled can idea using scrap book paper like the picture above. Use the cans to store pencils, crochet hooks, stitch rippers, paint brushes etc. I bought a kit specifically for peg boards that included all the hardware for hanging everything you see in the photo. The kit even included the white bins that are above the chalkboard and the jars with the white lids. If you decide to create a peg board rather than the chalkboard this kit would be perfect for storing all your sewing supplies.

SECOND: Shelving for pattern and file storage

You can see in the drawing of your room that I added three shelves to the opposite side of the wall from your big frame. You have one shelf located there now that I think is too high and doesn't allow you to easily access or organize your stuff. These are the brackets from Hobby Lobby that I was telling you about that would be great for holding up a piece of wood (for the shelf) that you get from the hardware store. The brackets were priced at $7 a piece but were half off at $3.50.....super price.

Use these shelves to store your files and some of your patterns that you need to access often using the magazine holders I included in your box. I only sent one box to see how you liked them. Please let me know if you like them and I will send more:) I thought you and the girls could use mog podge or hot glue to attach scrap book paper or fabric in coordinating colors to the "Inspire" letters and cork board fabric to the magazine holders. Here are a couple of examples:

Click HERE to find the tutorial for covering the magazine holders with fabric.

By the way, I was at Ikea yesterday and they have some new file holders that are already covered in a print that would match your room. They would look great and you wouldn't have to cover them yourself. Also, use your shelves to store your acrylic paints in a sizable bin with lid. Any paint that does not fit in this bin store in the craft supply bin that fits under your counter.

I also included a couple of paper boxes with a place for sliding in a label for you to place under your shelves to hold some of your patters.

THIRD: Fabric storage wall

Look at the next sheet which is the new layout of your room. I thought it would great to use the wall on the right as you enter your room for fabric storage. Your current bookshelf that is along this wall could be moved to the far back wall during phase one of your room which has nothing there currently.

I thought this shoe organizer was a great way for you to store extra fabric scraps. You have a lot of wall space that could be used for storage, and since you are on a budget this would be a great way to have visible, accessible, storage for your scraps at a good price.

I thought this was a clever and easy way to add color to your room without painting your walls and at the same time allowing your fabric to be easily stored and accessible. Putting fabric in bins and stacking them on shelves looks great but keeping up with folding and separating into correct bins takes time and energy. I like this idea because you can see all your fabric and you don't have to take the time to sort, stack or fold fabric. This is made using 1x4's with wooded dowels holding large cuts of fabric. I would use it for fabric only, not for ribbon storage that they show in the picture. This would be on the same wall as the above re-purposed shoe organizer.

Along this same fabric storage wall, near to your french doors, I suggest using 2-3 decorative wall hooks for hanging current projects that are yet to be finished. This way they are off the floor and starring at you to finish them.

I like these numbered hooks. Something with a black finish would look best. Hobby Lobby has lots of options.

FOURTH: Counter top skirt

This is an example of what your counter top would look like with the skirt we were talking about. The fabric is not what I was thinking for your room, but, I do like how they added a strip of coordinating fabric at the bottom.

I wanted you to see a close up of how they attached the skirt to the counter. They used a small stainless steel wire(secured to the under side of the counter every few feet) with clips attaching the fabric to the wire every few inches. D said you can find heavy duty stainless steel wire at Lowes or Home Depot as well as the hardware to attach the wire to the counter top. Let me know if you need help finding it, I can have D purchase it for you if you'd like.

FIFTH: Thread storage and cork boards

Spray your wooden thread holder black and hang the embroidery hoop cork boards along with the decorative letter "C" next to your thread storage. I also included decoupage letters reading "Inspire" which could be hung hillbilly style (with sticky tack) right above your cork boards. Refer to drawing.

SIXTH: Family picture storage

I included two knobs which can be sprayed black and hung using a special screw you can get from Lowes that has threads on two ends. This allows you to screw the screw into the knob and into the drywall anchor. After your knobs are hung use a thick piece of hemp string or wire to wrap around each knob. Using clothes pins(which you and your girls could decoupage scrap book paper to also) pin your favorite family pictures to the hemp/wire. This way you can change the pictures out often.

PHASE TWO: Future incorporating of your desk and book storage into the new design.

For these ideas look at the Faze 2 sheet of your room layout. These are ideas for you to do down the road. I know you said at some point you would like to incorporate your "new" desk and use it for JP as well as wanting to add more book storage for your growing collection of books.

I love the lines of this bookshelf (painted white) which could be put along the wall where your sofa sits now. A bookshelf similar to this (slightly wider than the one shown here maybe twice the size) would be great for storing your collection of books as well as added fabric and notions storage.

Or find an old cabinet (like the one below) or a couple bookcases and paint them a fun color that matches your room:)

Using part of the bookcase for storage would be a great thing too. I was reminded of your friend Jamie and all her labeled bins in this picture. These could also be placed under your sewing counter with the other storage bins shown in the drawing.

This is a close up of the same bins on the above bookcase. Having a bin for all your sewing needs will keep your room clutter free. I am sure you could use a bin for skirt lining, elastic, and zippers. Remember to label your bins.

Next to this bookshelf, in the corner, place a comfortable slipcovered chair and ottoman. This is the chair I was thinking:

We just bought two of these chairs this weekend and I like them....... a lot!! Before we even had them a day, Graham wiped his blackberry covered mouth all over it. I remained calm, although, it was difficult because our slipcovers are white. I slipped the cover off, used my bleach pin on the blackberry spot and it is now good as new!! Now we just have to get Ikea to open a store in CO for you....he he!

As far as your desk area I was thinking about placing it along your back wall. Again use the wall space for storing objects you need often or for a vertical space for jotting down messages and notes. I like these vinyl calendars that you just stick to the glass of a picture frame. You can find them on etsy.com. One of these would look great hanging above your desk for organizing JP related stuff. A chalkboard would also be great above your desk.

So that's it sister! I know it has been a long time coming!!! I hope all these ideas are along the lines of what you were looking for, that they make sense, and that they seem "doable" to you. I wish I were there to help you in person. It would make it much easier for us both:) Call me after you have looked through everything:) LOVE YOU!!!!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Do any of you ever get comments on your blog that are in Chinese or Japanese that say mean things? How do I make sure they can't leave a comment on my blog?

Oh, and if you are that person............please STOP!!!!

BTW, I am not mean.......I am quite nice actually, so if you are new to my blog please don't read the hate mail left by the big fat meanies that I do not know and who don't know me:)

Anyhow,
I have been without a camera to upload photos to the blog which is why I have been MIA for 2 weeks. Lots of new stuff to share, I just need some time (and a camera) to share them with you. So, in the next few weeks you will be hearing a lot about:

Our New Church.....Awesome

What God has been up to with the B's

Finishing up our Homeschool Year

Summer fun ideas with the family

Angie's Sewing Room FINALLY DONE! Thanks for being patient Ang:)

Studio 31....still not done but I will share photos anyhow

New piece of furniture to paint

Shelving in the Breakfast area

Eden and her mischievous ways

Boys and why they wear 2 pairs of underwear

My sweet Hottie of a Husband who keeps leaving me notes everywhere to remind me of our 10 year anniversary coming up soon:)

And just because I can't post something without a picture, here are a few I have been looking at the past week from the archives.

Love this picture and these boys......this picture is for the mean commenter.....totally kidding...kinda.....
You might be able to upset me by leaving rude comments, but you don't want to mess with this guy...he he!!

This is what I am trying to do with my family room.....minus the hardwood floors, windows, and jute rug. Basically just the slip covered furniture.

I am not redoing my laundry room again. We all know how that turned out. I just like the shelves in this picture which is what I will be doing in the breakfast area above my new piece of furniture I need to paint!!

I really like this quilt. It is so simple. I want to make a quilt for my new family room using mostly white with with some really cool fabric I bought at the Sew to Speak Quilt Shop a while back

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I made the girls matching Easter outfits and hair bows this year. I tend to start a project then get distracted in the middle of it because I get a great idea and start another one. Before I know it I have 10 projects all waiting to be finished. So, I was lucky to get these outfits finished by Easter.

This is a girl's size 7 shirt and skirt.

This is a toddler size 18months skirt and shirt.

Pretty much impossible to get a good picture of an 18 month old.

Easter at the Lake.

We have been working on the sewing/craft room for months now and it is almost finished. This weekend the shelves were hung as well as peg board, cork boards, thread holder, and wall lettering!! Woohoo!!

Here is a sneak peek at the room.

The dresser is painted and is ready to be filled with fabric. You can check out the before of the room and dresser by clicking here and here.